The Day Seattle Forced the Chinese Out
When an angry mob corralled the Chinese community on a warehouse dock, a steamer captain navigated the line between keeping the peace and resisting a forced expulsion.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A Chronic reporter interviewed Captain Alexander regarding the Seattle troubles. Alexander said the first indication he had of disorder was about 7 o'clock on Sunday morning, when wagons and carts arrived at the wharf accompanied by a few Chinese attendants, who proceeded to unload. Soon after, Captain Alexander walked into town and was met by a large crowd of citizens who told him the Chinese must go, and must go on his steamer, too. The Captain replied that anyone could travel on his steamer who could produce the necessary fare; otherwise, not.
He dispatched word to his engineers to steam up and prepare for trouble. Alexander stated that at that time the uprising element comprised at least 3,000 people, and the entire city seemed to be under their control. The citizens insisted he take the Chinese and left the impression they would see to it. He informed the crowd that no one would be placed on his boat without a ticket unless it was done over his dead body. As soon as he announced that none could go without paid fare, money began to accumulate in the hands of a committee, and within fifteen minutes, the fares of the Chinese had been paid by the wealthier classes.
The Queen of the Pacific did not sail at her appointed time, as the Captain knew he could preserve peace by delaying. On Monday, after being driven from their quarters in Chinatown, the Chinese were corralled in a large warehouse on the dock, guarded by a portion of the mob who patrolled in a cold drizzling rain. The Captain said that as long as he remained, there was no violence, only an intense determination that increased hourly. Just a short time after he sailed out of the harbor, he heard the crack of rifles and knew then the worst had come.
“The entire city seemed to be subject to their control. There were no threats to speak of, nor tendency toward mob violence—simply a determined uprising that might result in something serious if its purpose were in any way impeded.”
This account depicts the 1886 anti-Chinese expulsion from Seattle. While often framed by the era’s press as a 'civic' matter, it was an organized campaign of ethnic cleansing that permanently erased the city’s early Chinatown. Today, the site of these events—the waterfront docks—remains a space of contested history, mirroring contemporary struggles over who belongs in the changing urban landscape.
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